Hendrick GoltziusDutch, 1558–1617Apollo Belvedere (Apollo Pythius)
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Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
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- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
By the late 1580s, Hendrick Goltzius had won a reputation as the greatest engraver of his time. He was so well known that when he travelled to Italy, 1590–91, to see the wonders of antiquity and the Renaissance, he went incognito for his safety and privacy. His ability to incise swelling and tapering lines in complex patterns is on full display in this engraving of the Apollo Belvedere, then already housed in the Vatican, where it remains today. Near the base of the sculpture, he shows a young artist studying the statue, just as he did.
Goltzius labeled the sculpture Apollo Pythius, because scholars interpreted it as showing Apollo having just slain Python, the chthonic (underworld) serpent guarding Delphi. We see the arrows in his quiver, and the fragmentary shaft in his left has represents his bow. Apollo better be careful, for another serpent is slithering up the tree.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 2020.21.1
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
Meanwhile, in the life of Hendrick Goltzius
The whole lifelate 1580s
Depression and consumption
From the late 1580s he suffered from depression and consumption; his family life was unhappy.
1590
Departure for Italy
He fled from his wife and, despite his illnesses, set out for Italy — via Hamburg and Munich to Venice, Bologna and Florence. Part of the way he traveled on foot, passing himself off as a commoner, "partly out of a love of mystification."
January 1591
Eight months in Rome
He arrived in Rome in January 1591 and stayed eight months (with a brief sojourn in Naples). He discovered Raphael, was especially impressed by Michelangelo and Giambologna, and studied art from classical sculpture to the masters of the Renaissance.
August 1591
Return to Haarlem with a collection of drawings
He returned to Haarlem, bringing from Italy a large collection of drawings that he used for the rest of his life; from the Roman material three engravings of classical statues are known, including the Farnese Hercules.
c. 1600
Abandoning engraving for painting
Around 1600, partial paralysis of his right hand (maimed in childhood in a fall onto burning coals) forced Goltzius to give up engraving and turn to painting; he handed over his print publishing to his stepson Jacob Matham. About fifty surviving paintings are attributed to him.
1 January 1617
Died
